Cognitive Neuroscience

The Department of Psychology at the University of Oregon has played an important role in the development of the field of Cognitive Neuroscience, and current researchers are continuing that tradition. Research areas include the cognitive and neural basis of perception, visual cognition, selective attention, working memory, long-term memory, executive control, action, language processing, and brain plasticity. We also investigate how these processes are altered by development in impoverished environments, aging, traumatic brain injury, autism, and other conditions. Studies employ a wide range of methods, including behavioral experiments, analyses of individual differences, functional imaging, electrophysiology, and transcranial magnetic and direct current stimulation.

The research efforts of the Cognitive Neuroscience labs benefit from the collaborative atmosphere at the University of Oregon, both within Psychology and across other departments, allowing for an exploration of cognitive processes at many levels of analysis. Labs are located within the state-of-the-art facilities of the Robert and Beverly Lewis Integrative Science Building, in close proximity to the many other labs of the Institute of Neuroscience. The building also houses the Lewis Center for Neuroimaging, a research-dedicated facility with a 3T MRI scanner that supports ongoing research and training with functional and structural MRI.

One of the most important aspects of the Cognitive Neuroscience graduate program is its informal, cooperative atmosphere; people are eager to collaborate in research and to share ideas. At the same time, there is an emphasis on the development of imagination and intellectual independence. Students are encouraged to explore their research ideas from many different perspectives, with the assistance of the expertise from several labs within the Department of Psychology, the Institute of Neuroscience, etc.